Single lever control for electrical gear shift



SINGLE LEVER CONTROL FOR ELECTRICAL GEAR SHIFT Filed Oct. 6, 1959 J. F. MORSE Jan. 3, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JOHN F. ORSE ATTORNEYS m ?.l.. .11 on c. o L

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EEFDMZ SINGLE LEVER CONTROL FOR ELECTRICAL GEAR SHIFT Filed Oct. 6, 1959 J. F. MORSE Jan. 3, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JOHN E MORSE mm m M w m ATTORNEYS SINGLE LEVER CONTROL FOR ELECTRICAL GEAR SHIFT Filed 001:. a, 1959 J. F. MORSE Jan. 3, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 /F'ORVIARD 3 REVERSE FIG. 5

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ATTORNEYS SINGLE LEVER CONTROL FOR ELECTRICAL GEAR SHIFT John F. Morse, 21 ClintonSL, Hudson, Ohio Filed Oct. 6, 1959, Ser. No. 844,798

Claims. (Cl. 192-5098) The invention'relates generally to single lever controls for marine engines and the like in which a single lever controls both the direction and speed of the engine drive. Such a control is disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,884,109. More particularly, the invention relates to a singlelever control for engines having an electrically. actuated reverse gear.

Certain types of engines may employ electrical shifting means. For example, a conventional inboard marine engine having a disk type clutch may utilize an electric motor-driven actuator which allows gradual engagement of the clutch. In the case of a conventional outboard engine having a-dog or tooth type clutch, a solenoid type actuator is preferable to obtain substantially instantaneous engagement of the clutch dogs and reduce the wear on the dogs which would be caused by gradual engagement.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved single lever control adapted to operate the throttle of an engine by mechanicalv means and the reverse shifting'mechanism by electrical means.

Another'object is to provide an improved single lever control having electrically actuated reverse shifting mech anism and an auxiliary throttle mechanism for operating independently of the single lever control.

A further object is to provide a novel interlock between-the auxiliary throttle mechanism and the single lever control mechanism which prevents operationof one mechanism in certain positions of the other mechanism.

A still further object is to provide for areduced amount 1 of movement of the single lever control to actuate the shiftingzmechanism, thus minimizing'the throttle movement during the shifting range.

These objects and others which willappear from the following description, are accomplished by the-present invention, a preferred embodiment of which is shown by way of example in. the accompanying drawings and hereinafter described'in detail. Various modifications and changes in details of construction are intended to be comprehended within the scope of-theappended claims defining the-invention.

In the drawings'forming part hereof:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of the improved control mechanism with the single lever control and auxiliarying-rnechanism in the neutral position ofthe single leven.

control.

Fig. 6,- isa schematic view showing the electricalv 2 shifting mechanisrri in the forward idle position of the single lever control shown in Fig.3. I

Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing .the electricalshifti ing mechanism in the full for-ward position of the single le'vercont'rol. g

The housing 10 of the improved control may have its rear side closed by a cover plate 11 attached to the rim'of the housing by screws 12. On the front side of the housing'near its front end is a circular boss 13 in which the shaft 14 of the single control lever 15 is journaled. The'lever 15'hasa hub l6on the front end of the shaft,- and a thrust washer 17 may be interposed between the hub and the housing. The inner end of the shaft 14" has a throttle control arm 18 secured thereto by a screw 19.

The rear end portion 20 of shaft 14 is preferably squared and a detent plate 21 is non-rotatively secured thereon abutting the arm 18; A switching ring or plate 22 is mounted in a plate 23 of insulative material which is also non-rotatively secured on shaft portion 20', preferably in abutment with the front side of detent plate 2L- Between the plate 23 and the front wall 24 of hous ingboss-13 is aninsulative contact plate 25 journaled 0n the cylindrical portion of shaft 14, and an insulative gasket 26 is inteiposed between the plate 25 and the housing .wall 24.

The switching ring22 1y opposite contact fingers -28 and 29 having curved ends for slidably engaging electrical conductorrings in the contact'plate 25. As best seen in Figs. 5-7, finger 28 is; adapted'to contact conductor ririg 30 in all positions-of" the control lever 15. Finger 29 is adapted to contact. a conductor button 31 in the neutral position of the control lever shown in Figs. 1, 2 and S, and is adapted; to contact ring segments 32 and 33 in other positions.

The conductor ring 30, button 31 and ring segments; iii-and .33 are electrically connected to the actuator 35; for-the clutch shifting lever36 of the engine E (Fig. 1).. The actuator shown is a solenoid type actuator, although a-motor driven actuator can-be used if desired. Th solenoid actuator 35--has its armature-38bpivotal1y co11- nected by link 39 to-the clutch-shifting lever 36. The armature may be maintained in one of three positions, neutral, forward-and reverse,.byv means of three fieldcoils= (not shown) 7 in a :usual manner.

Referringwto Fig. 5, when thecontrol' is in neutral, theswitching-ring-ZZ: completes the" circuit from -ring 3i] 7 tothe button 31. Ring StP is; connected by conductorduetors-43 and 44,=- respectively, tome-forward and reverse position field coils. Accordingly; referring; to

. able, clampingameansn A resilientisleeve SSmay. be ap,

Figs. 6:and 7, when-thecontrol lever is-moved-tofor ward position, the armature 38 is moved-to the right and pulls the clutchlever 36- to forward'position. ,Conversely; when the control lever is moved to'reverse po-' sition, the armature 38'pushes the clutch'lever 36*to-the left to reverse position.-

Referring-to Figs; Land 2, the-throttle arm- 18 has a*' swivel con-nector 46-at its outer end-attached totlre."end=- of: a push 1 rod 47- which -telescopes within asleeveAS; The other-'end-of-the-pushrod 47 -is--secured--within the sleeve ro-the core 49 'ofapush-pull-cable-Sti: As indicated in-Figt 1, the remote end 0f-core'-49- is-connectedg to,a similar push rod 47 at the engine and push vrod 47f is: connected to the throttle: lever- 51 of the engine for operating the same.

which the cable. casin jd is secured byswagingoor suitis provided with two diametrical-- plied over the joint between the casing and the bushing 53, and a similar resilient sleeve 56 may be applied over the swivel connection 52. The bushing 53 is attached by a 57 to a bracket 58, and the bracket is swiveled on a projection 59 positioned eccentrically of a plate 60. The plate 60 has a concentric hub 61 journaled in the front wall of housing 10, preferably in a thrust bearing bushing 62 against which the auxiliary throttle lever 63 rotatively abuts. A screw 64 secures the lever 63 to the hub 61.

Preferably, the plate 60 is circular and has a detent notch 65 in its rim which is normally diametrically opposite to the eccentric projection 59. In the neutral position of the throttle arm 18 shown in Fig. 1, the projection 59 and detent notch 65 are in the same horizontal plane as the push rod 47 and its telescoping sleeve 48. The detent notch 65 normally receives a ball 66 which is yieldingly held in the notch by a plunger 67 biased by a spring 68. The plunger and spring are mounted in a bracket 70 secured to the housing by screws 71, and the front end of the plunger projects through the bracket for a purpose to be described.

The mounting of the throttle cable bracket 58 eccentrically of the auxiliary throttle lever hub, and the operation of the auxiliary throttle lever is fully disclosed and described in my Patent No. 2,884,109, and per se forms no part of the present invention. Suffice it to say that when it is desired to advance the throttle of the engine -'a limited amount independently of the single lever control 15, forward movement of the auxiliary throttle lever between its full line position and its phantom position shown in Fig. 1 will rotate the eccentric 59 and the bracket 58 thereon forwardly and upwardly and pull the cable casing 54 forwardly. Since the cable core is held stationary by the push rod 47' in neutral position, the effect of the forward movement of the casing 54 is to take up slack in the cable and exert a difierential rearward movement of the core on the push rod 47 at the engine to advance the throttle a limited amount.

The front projecting end of the plunger 67 is in the plane of the detent plate 21, and the plate has a notch 72 which, when the control lever 15 is in the neutral position of Fig. 1, is in position to receive the projecting end of the plunger 67. Thus, in neutral position of lever 15, operation of the auxiliary throttle lever 63 causes the detent notch 65 to ride over the ball 66 and forces the end of plunger 67 into the notch 72, providing an interlock which prevents operation of the single control lever 15 until the auxiliary lever 63 is returned to its idle position shown in full lines in Fig. 1. Conversely, when the control lever 15 is moved in either direction from neutral, the interlocking plunger 67 slidably engages the rim of detent plate 21 and prevents operation of the auxiliary lever 63 by holding the ball 66 in detent 65.

In the operation of the single lever control 15, assuming the auxiliary lever 63 to be in idle position, rotation of the lever 15 in either forward or reverse direction through an angle of about 25 from neutral, as indicated in Fig. 1, moves the finger 29 into contact with the ring segments 32 or 33 and energizes the solenoid coil to shift the clutch lever into forward or reverse. Fig. 6 shows the finger 29 moved through the forward shift range into contact with ring segment 32, and Fig. 7 shows the finger still contacting the segment 32 to hold the clutch lever in forward as the throttle lever is moved to the full forward position indicated in phantom in Fig. 3.

In order to provide a yielding stop for lever 15 at the end of the forward and reverse shifting ranges, plate 21 is provided with detent notches 73 and 74 for receiving, when the lever has moved through the shift ranges, a

ball 75 biased by a spring 76 located in a bore in the housing, the outer end of which is closed by a screw plug 77. A third detent notch 78 is provided in the plate 21 for receiving the ball 75 in the neutral position.

The fact that the control lever -15 need be moved through a small angle of the order fv ab 25 to accomplish the shifting operation reduces the amount of movement imparted to the engine throttle during the shifting range. Since a single lever is used to operate both the throttle and the clutch, a certain amount of movement is imparted to the throttle operating linkage during the shifting operation, and the smaller the shifting angle the less displacement there will be of the push rod 47 which actuates the cable core 49 to the engine throttle lever 51. In single lever controls where the clutch and throttle are mechanically actuated, the shifting operation requires the lever to be swung through an angle of about 4045 in either direction as compared with the range of about 25 in the present construction. Obviously, this 25 angle can be further reduced, but some loss in the sensitivity or feel of the control will result.

What is claimed is:

l. A single l ver remote control unit for an engine throttle and an engine clutch having an electrical actuator, said unit comprising a housing, a throttle control shaft rotatable in said housing from a neutral position in either direction and adapted for operative connection with the engine throttle, a contact plate journaled on said shaft, conductor rings on said plate adapted for electrical connection with the actuator, a switching plate secured on the shaft to selectively complete electrical circuits between the actuator and said conductor rings to shift the clutch into forward and reverse, a detent plate secured on said shaft, an auxiliary throttle control lever operatively mounted on said housing, and interlocking means between said auxiliary lever and said detent plate to prevent movement of said auxiliary lever in certain positions of said shaft.

2. A single lever remote control unit for an engine throttle and an engine clutch having an electrical actuator, said unit comprising a housing, a throttle control shaft rotatable in said housing from a neutral position in either direction and adapted for operative connection with the engine throttle, relatively movable contact elements on said shaft adapted to complete electrical circuits to operate the actuator to selectively shift the clutch into forward and reverse as the shaft is rotated from neutral a predetermined distance in either direction, a detent plate secured on the shaft, means on said housing to yieldingly hold said plate in forward and reverse clutch shifting position, an auxiliary throttle control lever operatively mounted on said housing, and interlocking means between said auxiliary lever and said detent plate to prevent movement of said auxiliary throttle lever in certain positions of said shaft.

3. A single lever remote control unit for an engine throttle and an engine clutch having an electrical actuator, said unit comprising a housing, a throttle control shaft rotatable in said housing from a neutral position in either direction and adapted for operative connection with the engine throttle, a contact plate journaled on said shaft, conductor rings on said plate adapted for electrical connection with the actuator, a switching plate secured on the shaft to selectively complete electrical circuits between the actuator and said conductor rings to shift the clutch into forward and reverse, a detent plate secured on said shaft, an auxiliary throttle control lever operatively mounted on said housing, interlocking means between said auxiliary lever and said detent plate to prevent movement of said auxiliary lever in certain positions of said shaft, and a conductor on said contact plate adapted to be contacted by said switching plate in the neutral position of said shaft to hold said actuator in neutral position.

4. A single lever remote control unit for an engine throttle and an engine clutch having an electrical actuator, said unit comprising a housing, a throttle control shaft rotatable in said housing from a neutral position in either direction and adapted for operative connection with the engine throttle, relatively movable contact elements on said shaft adapted to complete electrical circuits to oper'ate the actuator to selectively shift the clutch into for ward and reverse as the shaft is rotated from neutral a predetermined distance in either direction, a detent plate secured on the shaft, means on said housing to yieldingly hold said plate in forward and reverse clutch shifting position, an auxiliary throttle control lever operatively mounted on said housing, and interlocking means operated by the auxiliary lever to engage the detent plate and lock it in the neutral position of said shaft.

5. A single lever remote control unit for an engine throttle and an engine clutch having an electrical actuator, said unit comprising a housing, a throttle control shaft rotatable in said housing from a neutral position in either direction and adapted for connection to the care of a push-pull cable for operating the engine throttle, relatively movable contact elements on said shaft adapted to complete electrical circuits to operate the actuator to selectively shift the clutch into forward and reverse as the shaft is rotated from neutral a predetermined distance in either direction, a detent plate secured on said shaft, an auxiliary throttle control lever on said housing operative to move the casing of the throttle operating cable in a direction opposite to the movement of the cable core normally caused by rotation of said throttle control shaft, and interlocking means operated by the auxiliary lever to engage said detent plate 10 and lock it in the neutral position of said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Parrish Dec. 23, 1947 2,442,509 Panish June 1, 1948 

